WarnerMount One Step Closer and the Bizarre ‘Michael’ Backstory
From The Town with Matthew Belloni by The Ringer
April 23, 2026 · 34 min
About this episode
Matt discusses the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger and the premiere of the movie 'Michael' with guest Liz Hoffman.
Matt is joined by Semafor’s business and finance editor Liz Hoffman to discuss Wall Street's view of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, this morning's WBD shareholder vote to approve the $110B deal, the non-binding rejection of David Zaslav’s exorbitant pay package, how the board will respond, and Netflix’s reputation after its push to acquire Warner Bros (00:32). Then, Matt and Craig recap the ‘Michael’ premiere, discuss the sordid backstory of making the movie, and give their opening weekend box office prediction (25:50). Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Liz Hoffman Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jon Jones Theme Song: Devon Renaldo This episode is brought to you by AMC+. Start your free trial today at join.amcplus.com. Half Man is now streaming on HBO Max. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Liz Hoffman
Topics covered
- Paramount-Warner Bros. merger
- Wall Street
- box office predictions
- film industry
- Michael movie
Keywords
- Paramount
- Warner Bros.
- merger
- box office
- Michael
- Liz Hoffman
- David Zaslav
- Netflix
- AMC+
Sponsors
AMC+
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Warner Bros., Paramount, Netflix, HBO Max
Books & works: Michael
More episodes of The Town with Matthew Belloni
- The ‘Obsession’ Windfall and How Indie Hits Pay Out · June 12, 2026 · 41 min
- The Gen Z Box Office Boom and What They Think of Spielberg, Marvel, and Star Wars · June 11, 2026 · 28 min
- Is the ‘60 Minutes’ Blowup a Threat to Ellison’s Empire? · June 9, 2026 · 36 min
- 'Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons on Bursting into Hollywood, Internet Fandom, and Old IP · June 4, 2026 · 37 min
- Is This Hollywood’s First Practical Solution to Control AI? · June 3, 2026 · 35 min
- The Right and Wrong Lessons From ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ · June 2, 2026 · 34 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast page.